Chapter 52

When Xu Qinyu and her group arrived at the restaurant, the three waitresses had also arrived.

The three greeted Xu Qinyu, their expressions filled with excitement.

Xu Qinyu looked at the restaurant’s sign, still covered with a red cloth. She stepped forward and pulled off the cloth, revealing the four large characters “Xu’s Food Mansion.”

Madam Wen, Ning Jie’er, Cheng Ge’er, and Gong Ge’er were all so excited that their faces turned a bit red. Xu Qinyu, though outwardly calm, felt deeply emotional. She stepped forward and opened the doors of Xu’s Food Mansion, revealing the clean and neatly arranged tables and chairs inside.

Xu Qinyu turned back and smiled, “The restaurant is officially open today. Everyone, let’s get to work.”

The three waitresses had nothing to do for the moment, so they went to the backyard to help.

Xu Qinyu had a lot to do, and even Cheng Ge’er couldn’t help much. Kneading and mixing dough had to be done by Xu Qinyu herself, as the amount of water added, the number of times it was added, and the kneading strength all affected the final texture of the dough.

Cheng Ge’er was responsible for washing and cutting vegetables.

Others could help with tasks like boiling water, cleaning, fetching water, and placing the prepared food in the large steamers.

Xu Qinyu didn’t need help with monitoring the steamers; she could tell when to remove them just by smelling the food.

Everyone was full of energy.

Time passed quickly.

Restaurants and inns were usually the first to open in the market, but at this time, there wouldn’t be any customers for breakfast. Other shops gradually opened around the third quarter of the Chen hour, waiting for customers.

Shops like cosmetics, fabric, and jewelry stores opened at the third quarter of the Chen hour, but customers usually started browsing the market after breakfast. So even though all the shops and vendors were present, there weren’t many customers yet.

The female shopkeeper of the cosmetics shop next door, Fan Cuifang, arrived leisurely at the third quarter of the Chen hour. She earned two or three taels of silver a month. She was a widow who had fled to the Southwest ten years ago during a famine, losing her family and children in the disaster. She was fortunate to be rescued by a lady of a wealthy family. Later, she stayed with the lady to help.

The lady owned a cosmetics shop, and Fan Cuifang had a talent for blending fragrances. The cosmetics with her fragrances were more popular with customers, and the lady was kind enough to pay her for her work. As the lady’s business grew, she moved to Raozhou City and opened another cosmetics shop, but the one in Yuanbao Town remained open, with Fan Cuifang continuing as the shopkeeper.

As the shopkeeper, she earned three taels of silver a month, plus bonuses based on sales. The more the shop sold, the higher her bonuses, ranging from two to five taels of silver a month. Not all cosmetics were suitable for her fragrances. She earned about seventy taels of silver a year.

She bought a small two-entry house and a young maid, who was seven or eight years old at the time and now eleven or twelve. They relied on each other for support.

Fan Cuifang was considered wealthy in Yuanbao Town, so she usually ate breakfast outside and occasionally took her maid out for dinner.

After opening the shop, Fan Cuifang went to fetch water and clean but smelled a rich aroma of milk, meat, and dough, likely from a nearby restaurant or food stall preparing breakfast.

“Strange, why does today’s breakfast smell so good?” Fan Cuifang was puzzled. She had never smelled such a delicious breakfast aroma before. Could it be a new dish from somewhere?

As she thought about it, she remembered that a new restaurant had opened next door, run by a young girl. She vaguely recalled it was supposed to open around this time. Could the aroma be coming from the new restaurant?

Fan Cuifang stepped outside and saw the restaurant’s door being opened from the inside by a woman who looked older than her, with a gentle demeanor and beautiful features. The woman nodded slightly at her.

It was indeed the opening of the restaurant next door.

Just the smell of the aroma made her mouth water. Could it be that the young cook had found a head chef?

But that didn’t make sense. She had seen a notice for hiring assistant cooks at the restaurant’s entrance, not for a head chef. Could it be that there was already a head chef?

She couldn’t believe that a fifteen or sixteen-year-old cook could make such fragrant breakfast dishes. Just from the aroma, she was already eager to go in and taste what kind of breakfast could be so enticing.

Fan Cuifang wasn’t the only one thinking this way; the other shopkeepers nearby had similar thoughts. Almost everyone in the market knew that a new restaurant was opening, but they didn’t think much of it. They assumed it would be like the previous two attempts, closing down within a few months. After all, the food business was hard to sustain, unlike small food stalls with low costs and minimal risk.

The restaurants and small inns in the market even joked that the location was unlucky for food businesses.

They expected this new restaurant to be the same and were already betting on its opening and closing dates. Some even placed bets at a nearby small gambling den.

Many people actually went to place bets.

Xu Qinyu, of course, didn’t know about this. She had been busy for over an hour, finally getting all the steamed food ready.

She was efficient, and with multiple stoves and kitchen tools, she could cook the intestines while braising them and the meat on another stove, and prepare the fillings for shrimp dumplings and shumai. This allowed her to finish everything in just over an hour.

The remaining dishes were the fish porridge and oil-splashed noodles. The fish slices were already prepared and marinated, and the noodles were rolled and cut, all ready to be cooked as soon as customers ordered.

Xu Qinyu then asked Madam Wen to open the restaurant’s main door, officially starting the business!

It was around nine o’clock.

The market was gradually filling with customers, mostly coming for breakfast. West Street had many wealthy merchants, and even some workers with decent wages often came out for breakfast. These customers arrived at the market and were immediately drawn by the aroma of noodles, meat, and milk, which made their stomachs rumble with hunger.

The aroma was unlike anything they had ever smelled before, and they couldn’t help but look around.

“What is that smell? It’s so fragrant.”

“Is there a new breakfast dish at one of the restaurants or inns?”

“Let’s go and find out.”

Fan Cuifang, seeing the woman open the restaurant door, couldn’t resist asking, “Is the restaurant opening today?”

She looked up at the sign, “Xu’s Food Mansion.”

Although the sign had been hung up yesterday, it was covered with a red cloth, so the restaurant’s name wasn’t visible. Today, seeing it for the first time, she thought the name sounded quite grand.

Madam Wen smiled and said, “Xu’s Food Mansion is opening today. For the first three days, whether you have breakfast or dinner, you only need to pay eighty percent of the price.”

Yuniang said this was called a discount and could attract customers.

Fan Cuifang’s cosmetics shop was so close to the restaurant that she couldn’t resist the aroma. She walked over and said with a smile, “Can I order some food and have it delivered to the cosmetics shop next door?”

She was alone in the shop and couldn’t leave. With the door open, she feared that if she went inside to eat, someone might steal something from the shop.

Madam Wen nodded lightly, “Of course.”

Fan Cuifang followed the woman into the restaurant. Inside, it was clean and bright, newly renovated, and the environment alone made her feel comfortable.

Everyone likes to eat in a clean and bright place.

Madam Wen led the customer to the counter and smiled, pointing to the left side, “This is the breakfast area. We have custard buns, milk buns, small meat buns, glutinous rice intestines, shrimp dumplings, shumai, fish porridge, and oil-splashed noodles. We also have drinks, soy milk, and milk tea. The prices are listed below.”

Fan Cuifang first looked at the breakfast area on the left. Indeed, there were only a few items, but the right wall had many small wooden plaques with the names of various dishes, likely the dinner area. She looked back at the left side, where each wooden plaque had a price listed below.

Except for the milk buns, which were five wen per small steamer, the others were ten wen per small steamer. The fish porridge and oil-splashed noodles were eight wen per serving.

The two drinks, soy milk and milk tea, cost four wen and eight wen respectively.

Soy milk was common, but it was a bit expensive because it required added sugar. Outside, it usually cost three wen per bowl, but here it was one wen more expensive. And what was this milk tea that cost eight wen per bowl?

Madam Wen explained, “The portions are not large. Each serving contains about two items, and the shrimp dumplings come with four.”

The portions were indeed small, and compared to the restaurants and small inns on West Street, the prices were on the higher side. But Madam Wen was confident because Yuniang’s skills were worth the price, even more.

Fan Cuifang noticed that she hadn’t tried any of the other foods except for the meat buns. She couldn’t help but ask, “What is a custard bun? How big is it?”

Madam Wen replied, “Custard buns are made with milk, eggs, and sugar. The filling is delicate and smooth, sweet but not greasy, and the dough is rich with a milky aroma.”

She also showed the customer the size of the custard bun.

Fan Cuifang was surprised, “So small?”

Each bun was smaller than her fist, which seemed a bit expensive. From the description, it sounded like a sugar-filled bun. Outside, sugar buns were sold for two wen each, though they had little filling.

And the intestines, weren’t they pig offal? They cost one or two wen per jin, and few people bought them. How could they sell for ten wen per serving with some glutinous rice added? According to the restaurant manager, it was just two small pieces.

Shrimp, river shrimp, didn’t seem expensive either…

Fish porridge, fish was even cheaper…

Fan Cuifang hesitated but couldn’t resist ordering a custard bun and fish porridge. She preferred light breakfast and liked to drink porridge.

The custard bun cost ten wen, and the fish porridge eight wen. With the discount, it was fourteen wen, and the small change was rounded off.

Madam Wen asked, “The fish porridge takes 30 minutes to prepare, but the custard bun is ready now. Would you like them delivered together or the custard bun first?”

“Send the custard bun first.” Fan Cuifang couldn’t wait to taste what made this sugar bun different.

“Please wait a moment.”

When Fan Cuifang returned to her shop, it wasn’t long before another woman, around thirty years old and wearing a headscarf, arrived with a small steamer. The woman smiled and said, “Here are the custard buns from our shop. Please enjoy, and I’ll come back later to collect the steamer.”

After the woman left, Fan Cuifang eagerly looked at the custard buns inside the small steamer.

They were small and delicate, each one smaller than her fist, with a milky white dough that smelled distinctly different from ordinary sugar buns, full of a rich milky aroma. She couldn’t resist picking one up and taking a bite. The dough was fluffy and full of milk flavor, without any hint of milk’s usual smell. As soon as she bit into it, the warm, smooth, and delicate filling flowed into her mouth. The filling was unlike any ordinary sugar filling, with a strong aroma of milk and egg yolk, perfectly sweet without being cloying.

The filling was golden yellow and very attractive, and it was generous. Ordinary sugar buns sold outside had just a mouthful of filling, with the rest being plain dough.

The custard buns were so delicious that they made Fan Cuifang’s scalp tingle. She had eaten at almost every restaurant and inn in Yuanbao Town but had never tasted anything so delicious. If the young cook indeed made this, she understood why the young girl was so confident.

The two custard buns were quickly devoured.

Fan Cuifang wasn’t full at all. She couldn’t help but touch her stomach and lick her lips. They were so delicious that she wanted to order all the snacks except the oil-splashed noodles. But there was still the fish porridge, and if she ordered all the snacks, she wouldn’t be able to eat the porridge.

Never mind, she thought. She would order all the snacks tomorrow.

While Fan Cuifang waited for the fish porridge, other customers in the market gradually found their way to Xu’s Food Mansion.

“Xu’s Food Mansion?”

“Yes, it’s the one that rented this place a few days ago to open a restaurant. I’ve heard about it.”

“Right, I heard people are even betting on how many months this restaurant will last.”

“Didn’t this restaurant advertise for assistant cooks before? I know Chef Liu, who used to work as a junior cook at Donglai Restaurant. He worked there for several years but didn’t learn much, so he left. When he saw the advertisement for assistant cooks here, he thought that if they dared to teach assistant cooks, the head chef must be a famous chef. So he went to check it out. Guess what happened!”

“What happened?” the crowd grew curious.

The person replied, “The one who greeted Chef Liu was a young girl, about fifteen or sixteen. Chef Liu asked many questions and finally respectfully asked who the head chef of the restaurant was. The young girl said it was herself.”

The crowd burst into laughter.

“Is this young girl playing a prank on Chef Liu?”

“Who knows? Anyway, Chef Liu was furious when he got back and said he would never come to this restaurant to eat or work as an assistant cook.”

Whether the young girl was playing a prank on Chef Liu or not, everyone became curious about Xu’s Food Mansion. They wondered who the head chef was and whether the aroma was created using special ingredients or the natural fragrance of the food.

In any case, they decided to go in and try it. If it wasn’t good, they wouldn’t come back.

A group of people entered the restaurant and nodded in approval of the environment. At least they were very satisfied with the cleanliness and brightness.

Seeing customers, Madam Yuan, Madam Chen, and Madam Fang immediately greeted them.

The three women were the waitresses and naturally had to attend to the customers.

“What would you like to eat? You can take a look here; this is the breakfast area.”

A customer couldn’t help but ask, “Why are both the waitress and the manager women?”

Madam Chen, a straightforward person, laughed and said, “Our head chef is a young girl, so the waitstaff we hired are also women like us. What would you like to eat? Our young chef’s skills are truly remarkable. I guarantee you’ll want to come back for more. It’s absolutely delicious.”

“Oh, that’s quite a boast.”

A customer felt dissatisfied, thinking the claim was too exaggerated. If the young girl was really only about fifteen, even if she made the food smell good, she would have only had a few years of experience cooking, assuming she started at five years old, washing, picking, and cutting vegetables before finally cooking.

With just a few years of cooking experience, she might not even be as good as an ordinary restaurant cook.

Knowing how skilled Young Lady Xu was, Madam Chen felt a bit annoyed. She wanted to say something but couldn’t argue with customers.

Madam Chen had to smile and say, “Why don’t you try some food and see for yourselves?”

“Let’s try it then,” a customer snorted, “We’re regulars in this market. If it’s not good, your restaurant’s reputation will be ruined.”

Madam Chen wanted to snort back but held it in, forcing a smile instead.

The customers approached the counter and saw the breakfast options. They started commenting, “What are these foods? Never heard of them. Not to mention the custard buns and milk buns, but glutinous rice intestines? Selling pig offal for ten wen per serving? And river shrimp and fish, aren’t they cheap foods? What’s the portion size?”

Madam Wen replied gently, “Each serving contains two items, and the shrimp dumplings come with four.”

Hearing the small portions, the customers became even more dissatisfied.

“Do they think we’re fools? Two small sugar buns for ten wen, and these offal and fish shrimp that no one likes to eat.”

“Exactly. Should we go somewhere else?”

“But the aroma is really strong.”

The enticing aroma was what drew them in, especially once inside the restaurant, they couldn’t help but swallow their saliva.

“Fine, let’s try it. I’ll have a small steamer of meat buns, a steamer of shumai, and a bowl of oil-splashed noodles. I’ve had noodles before, but what are oil-splashed noodles?”

“I’ll try it too. I like sweet foods, so I’ll have a steamer of custard buns. I want to see what they are, and some shrimp dumplings, and a serving of fish porridge.”

“I’ll have glutinous rice intestines and a milk bun. Shouldn’t the bun come with some porridge?”

Madam Wen said, “Our milk buns come with a bowl of plain porridge and a plate of pickled vegetables.”

The customer nodded in satisfaction, “Alright, those two then.”

The other customers followed suit, ordering almost every breakfast item.

No one ordered drinks yet. However, one customer was curious about the milk tea. Learning it cost eight wen and was rich, creamy, and sweet, they decided to try a bowl.

They were surprised to learn they had to pay upfront and complained a bit, but eventually, they all paid.

Except for the fish porridge, the other breakfast items were quickly served.

Seeing the small steamers of breakfast being served, the customers were quite satisfied.

“I must say, this way of serving breakfast is a first for me. They bring the small steamers directly to you.”

When the customers started eating, they were shocked by the taste and couldn’t believe it. “This… this flavor…”

The taste matched the enticing aroma, truly delicious.

“Is this really made from intestines? Why is it so tasty, fragrant, and tender, with a rich meat flavor and no offal smell at all?”

“This is a shrimp dumpling? It’s so beautiful and crystal clear; you can see the filling inside, with shrimp from the whole river. Let me taste it first.”

Xu Qinyu’s shrimp dumplings also included spring bamboo shoots. Both the shrimp and bamboo shoots were fresh, and the combination of these two freshest ingredients created a flavor so delicious that it made you want to swallow your tongue.

“Give me two more steamers of shrimp dumplings! They’re so delicious.”

“Is it really that good? Then I’ll have a steamer of shrimp dumplings too.”

Soon, almost everyone had a steamer of shrimp dumplings.

The small steamers were sent back to the kitchen to be cleaned, and Xu Qinyu filled them with the shrimp dumplings she had prepared earlier, placing them at the bottom of the steamer to start steaming again.

Every breakfast item was delicious.

“Even the plain porridge and pickled vegetables with the milk buns have a unique flavor. The milk buns are soft and tasty, with a light milk aroma. A sip of the plain porridge brings out the rich rice flavor, and the pickled vegetables are sour, crisp, and refreshing. We were wrong to doubt the chef’s skills.”

“And this milk tea is really good, better than any drink I’ve had before, rich and creamy.”

“It’s not just good; it’s the best and most satisfying breakfast I’ve had in over ten years of eating out.”

“Indeed, even the breakfast made by the imperial kitchen in the capital might not be this good.”

Madam Wen smiled as she listened.

Even the imperial chefs couldn’t match Yuniang’s skills. She couldn’t help but wonder how Yuniang’s cooking skills were so extraordinary at just fifteen or sixteen, yet few people in the capital knew about her. But Xuan Ge’er had told her that everyone has their strengths, and Yuniang just happened to have an exceptional talent for cooking. She wasn’t famous before because, in the capital, the Dechang Marquis’s family wouldn’t let their daughters become chefs.

“The prices are indeed higher than other restaurants and inns, but it’s worth it. I’ve eaten at Donglai Restaurant, and their breakfast is more expensive than here. Honestly, their pastry chefs aren’t as good as the ones here.”

Everyone nodded, as they had all eaten at Donglai Restaurant.

“Is it really that young girl who made this?”

The crowd still couldn’t believe that a girl in her teens made such delicious food. If it weren’t for other customers coming in, they would have waited to ask the young girl themselves.

The person who knew Chef Liu couldn’t help but mutter, “If these breakfast dishes were really made by the young girl Chef Liu mentioned, he must be regretting it now.”

Customers continued to follow the aroma to the restaurant.

Madam Wu also brought Shao Ge’er, Xiao Cui, and Zhu Zi directly to the restaurant to eat. After eating, she still had to help her husband bring some food to the shop.

Even Xu Yunlan and Yang Zhizhi brought their families to have breakfast.

Only Officer Xu and Magistrate Yang didn’t come. If they had, it would have caused quite a stir.